Scintillators which are used to convert incident high energy radiation such as X-rays into photons are known. The photons generated by the scintillator may then be detected by a photodetector so that the photodetector provides an electrical signal indicative of the incident X-rays or other high energy radiation. The electrical signal may then be processed to provide an image corresponding to the detected X-rays or other high energy radiation.
The thickness of the scintillator material which is used affects the performance of a radiation detector such as an X-ray detector. If the scintillator material is too thick then interactions of the photons within the scintillator material will cause the beam of photons emitted by the scintillator material to spread out rather than be provided in a focused beam. This will decrease the resolution of images obtained by the X-ray detector. If the scintillator material is thin then this may allow for a high resolution of images to be obtained as it will decrease the amount of spreading of the beam of photons. However, having a thin layer of scintillator material will decrease the amount of X-rays absorbed by the scintillator material. This will decrease the sensitivity and the efficiency of the X-ray detector.
It is useful to provide an improved scintillator apparatus and method of providing such apparatus.